Foreign patients owe $60k to DHB

COUGH UP:Getting money from foreigners for medical treatment is the bedbug of District Health Boards. PHOTO:/THINKSTOCK

Foreign patients who received medical treatment in Wairarapa owed more than $60,000 as of December last year.

According to figures released to the Wairarapa Times-Age under the Official Information Act, two patients owed a total of $62,025 in unpaid medical bills at the end of 2014.

The amount owed has dropped over the past few years. In 2013, three debtors owed $68,779.50 and in 2012, one debtor owed $77,123.50.

While the Government foots the bill for New Zealanders, foreign patients have to pay the bills themselves unless there are reciprocal arrangements with their country of origin.

Wairarapa District Health Board (DHB) chief financial officer Judith Parkinson said the DHB went through several processes to recover unpaid bills.

"We'll do everything we can to get in touch with the patient to recover the debt," she said. "If they're in a difficult financial situation we'll discuss implementing a payment plan with them.

"If we can't recover the debt we'll refer the case to Baycorp [debt collection agency]."

Wairarapa DHB had only a small number of foreign patients and only a small number who didn't pay, she said.

In her 18 months in the job, the DHB hadn't written off any foreign debt, Ms Parkinson said. "The debt would only be written off if there was absolutely no way to pay off the debt. That would generally be because the patient had left the country and couldn't be contacted, and no one in their family could be contacted."

Nationally, district health boards write off millions of dollars each year after treating foreign patients.

Patients from some countries were covered under their visa status. People from Australia, the United Kingdom Australia, Tokelau, Niue and the Cook Islands have reciprocal agreements to cover the treatment. Foreign patients injured in accidents may be covered by ACC.

Ministry of Health spokesman John Hazeldine said district health boards were responsible for recovering debts from non-eligible patients.

"The ministry recognises that this is not always possible and compensates DHBs with a higher level of debt write-off through its funding," Mr Hazeldine said.

Health boards can also advise Immigration New Zealand of a patient's debt.